Eric Ebron was allegedly a seam-splitting, deep target, who instead turned out to be a dropped pass about to happen.

When Ebron remotely came into his own late last season, he merely made plays most starting NFL tight ends execute regularly - and at a hefty price. When you look in the archives at his receptions, there aren’t many over-the-top. In retrospect, the Lions missed badly by not selecting Rams’ All-Pro defensive tackle Aaron Donald or Giants’ wide receiver Odell Beckham, as troubled as he is, with the 10th overall selection in the 2014 NFL Draft rather than the undependable, enigmatic Ebron.

The Lions were also off target with the 20th overall pick on Brandon Pettigrew, an average player, in 2009, although he was better than Ebron. Those were on former Lions’ general manager Martin Mayhew.

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But even last year, when present general manager Bob Quinn took Toledo’s Michael Roberts in the fourth round, the Lions apparently missed an opportunity. While Roberts’ contribution was relatively minimal (31 percent of offensive snaps, 4 receptions for 46 yards, inactive last game reportedly for disciplinary reasons), Iowa rookie George Kittle, selected early in the fifth round by San Francisco, became a go-to receiver for quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. In Garoppolo‘s five starts - all wins - Kittle caught 15 passes (on just 19 targets) for a 14.2 yards average. Overall, Kittle had 43 receptions for 515 yards as a rookie.

The Lions, wisely considering his salary, released Ebron. Veteran Darren Fells, who like Ebron, had 549 snaps last season, has also departed.

The Lions’ veteran additions at tight end this off season, former Seahawk Luke Wilson and ex-Falcon Levine Toilolo, have been mostly complementary parts. It’s led to speculation the Lions must address tight end early in this draft.

I’m not so sure. Tight end can be a difference-making spot, obviously. New England’s Rob Gronkowski is the current classic example.

And there are very good tight end prospects available in this draft. South Dakota State’s Dallas Goedert probably has the best chance to go in the first round, but most are likely second-day picks - South Carolina’s Hayden Hurst, Penn State’s Mike Gesicki and Oklahoma’s Mark Andrews.

I don’t see tight end as necessarily a priority for the Lions. They have a very productive wide receiver tandem in Golden Tate and Marvin Jones. Kenny Golladay is the third receiver. While he’s not the smoothest route runner, Gollday has a good size-speed combination, and will be open in 3-receiver sets. He is capable of the over-the-top, seam-splitting aspect Ebron didn’t provide. Importantly, there was evidence last year that A) Matthew Stafford will find Golladay and B) The ball sticks to him - he catches it.

Also, I think Roberts has a chance to be solid. He’s a fluid athlete for his size (6-4, 270 pounds) and has the makings of a good blocker. It’s not unusual for a young player to make amends after struggling with the rigors of their rookie campaign.

Tate is in the last year of his contract and will be 30 in August. Jones is 28, and headed for the back-loaded portion of his deal. The Lions might be better off to develop another young wide receiver along with Golladay than reach for a tight end in the first three rounds of this draft. Quinn has the flexibility to draft based on talent rather than need in that regard.

It’s a misnomer to suggest tight end is a luxury the Lions can’t afford early in this draft.

Yet, their history strongly suggests the last thing the Lions should do is overvalue the position.